


i'll run

by jesterwrites



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Hetalia USUK - Freeform, M/M, Revolutionary War, Songfic, not super shippy, us/uk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-25
Updated: 2014-09-25
Packaged: 2018-02-18 18:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2358626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesterwrites/pseuds/jesterwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's the first world meeting since America gained independence from England. </p><p>Songfic to Run To You by Pentatonix.<br/>Human named used.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i'll run

**Author's Note:**

> While you read, I recommend you listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp7PS_UN8Lo&list=PLU_mcNMHvxil0QCxZZB8cjWEiCZEAJRvm
> 
> The song, of course, is not mine, nor is Hetalia.
> 
> Enjoy!

Arthur buried his face in his hands. He shouldn’t have come here. There was just too much tension, too much awkwardness, too much guilt for him to face.  
He hadn’t seen his brother since the war. The war he had lost, a symbol of the hard truth that his empire had fallen and he hadn’t even the strength to keep Alfred from leaving him. Part of him hoped that the American wouldn’t even be at the meeting today.  
 But his brother, he knew, was too proud, too full of himself not to show up and announce that he had abandoned Arthur in exchange for his own freedom, a liberty he would flaunt to the other nations until the end of time.  He heard several young female micronations chattering noisily near the entryway of the room and he tuned in to the conversation, hoping to distract himself with the gossip of the world. But before he could find out exactly what the personifications of Saxony and Cleves had been doing at the party last Friday, the voices fell silent and he looked up.    
  
_A light in the room_  
_it was you who was standing there_  
  
Alfred stepped quietly into the meeting room. He didn’t want to attract too much attention. Back when he had been nothing more than a colony, no one had given him much notice. But things were different now, and Alfred found himself being carefully scrutinized by every nation in the room. Every nation but one.  
  
Alfred focused his gaze on his older brother.

 _Tried, it was true_  
_as your glance met my stare_  
  
Arthur lifted his eyes to the rebel colony – _nation_ , he corrected himself, mournfully- but he determinedly looked away, trying to appear indifferent. But he had seen something in Alfred’s eyes that hadn’t been there during their last confrontation. Something akin to sorrowful triumph, a haze of emotion that was almost impossible to place.

 _But your heart drifted off_  
_like the land split by sea_  
  
Without a word, feeling every eye upon him, Alfred seated himself at the nations’ table, a privilege he hadn’t had until now. This was his silent declaration: that he was free, that he was going to make something of himself whether they liked it or not. The other countries took their places as well and hesitantly began the meeting. Arthur said nothing, pretending to listen to the news of the other nations, but never once did he speak, never once did he let his gaze stray to that of his brother.

Alfred kept watching Arthur, his blue eyes pleading and filled with pain.

The meeting ended and he waited until the other nations had left. Then the Englishman slowly rose from his seat and, head down, started for the door. It was then that he approached his brother, standing a few feet away from him and waiting.  
  
_I tried to go, to follow_  
_to kneel down at your feet_  
  
Arthur stopped. He didn’t want any more conflict, no more endless guilt and empty excuses for his own weakness.  
“Excuse me,” he said quietly, smoothly sidestepping around Alfred. Inside he was struck with the same sinking, panicked sorrow that had dominated his awareness ever since Alfred had gone.  
  
_I'll run,_  
  
Alfred turned and lay his hands on Arthur’s shoulders. He could feel his older brother tense; they hadn’t been this close to each other for a long time.  
  
_I'll run,_  
  
Arthur turned around and looked up into his brother’s eyes- he couldn’t believe how tall Alfred was, especially since he had once been so small- and was surprised to see that he was crying. A single tear rolled down Alfred’s cheek, and Arthur, the personification of the formerly all-powerful British Empire, could feel his heart breaking.

  
_I’ll run, run to you_  
  
“Arthur, please…” Alfred’s voice was soft and shaky. “Please, just listen to me…”  
Arthur felt his cold countenance breaking. He kept his eyes trained on Alfred’s, watching, waiting.  
“I-I’m sorry,” he began, his voice nearly breaking. “I’m sorry that I left you, sorry that I can’t change what happened, a-and-” Alfred was nearly sobbing now, his eyes filled with tears. Arthur pulled him into a firm embrace, holding him close as if he was a child, in a way he hadn’t for many years.   
“Go on,” he said gently.  
“I’m scared, Artie,” he whimpered through his tears. “I don’t know how to run a country, I don’t know how to keep myself alive, and there’s so many people who depend on me. I think I've made a bad mistake and I don’t know what to do!”

Arthur was stunned. This side of his brother was a far cry from the defiant, independent man who had faced him in battle not long ago:

 _I've been settling scores_  
_I've been fighting so long_  
  
“You can’t do this! You’ll never have the strength to stand on your own!”  
Arthur had nearly screamed, the rain and his own tears making tracks down his mud-streaked face.  
Alfred was shaking from cold and fear and grief, trembling violently because he couldn’t believe this, couldn’t believe what he was doing, but he knew he had to.  
  
_But I've lost your war_  
_and our kingdom is gone_  
  
“I’ll never be more than a colony to you! I can’t live like this, I can’t be trapped anymore!”

“Alfred, stop!”

The younger man tilted his head back, letting the rain wash away his emotions.  
  
“My name… is America.”  
  
_How shall I win back your heart_  
_which was mine_  
  
Arthur had never felt so weak before, as he knelt before his brother, crushed and defeated. Finally humbled, finally broken, he gazed up at Alfred one last time.

 _I have broken bones_  
_and tattered clothes_  
  
“Don’t go, Alfred.” The tone of his voice was imploring, beseeching. “Please, don’t go. I need you. I-I love you.”  
  
_I've run out of time_  
  
Alfred turned and walked away as Arthur dropped his head to his hands and sobbed. The rain continued to fall.

 _I'll run, run to you_  
  
Arthur was jolted back to the present by his brother crying into his shoulder.  
  
“Hey,” he murmured soothingly. “It’s okay, everything’s going to be alright.”  
Alfred looked up, confusion and sadness in his eyes.

“B-but I….”  
His voice trailed off as he saw the look on his brother’s face.  
  
_Oh, I will break down the gates of heaven_  
  
“Alfred… I want you to know that I’m actually proud of you.”

“What? Why?”  
  
Arthur gave his former charge a half-smile.  
“I could never be brave enough to do what you did. In fact, I would be proud to call you an ally, a **nation** -“  
He stepped back and bowed, low and formal.  
“ **America.** ”  
  
_A thousand angels stand waiting for me_  
  
Alfred opened his mouth but found he was unable to speak. It was a few moments before he could compose himself.  
“When we were fighting, I never got a chance to say… I love you too.”

 _Take my heart and I'll lay down my weapons_  
  
A few moments passed, then Arthur stood up straight and laughed softly.  
“I can’t believe how tall you’ve gotten.”  
Alfred dried his eyes with the sleeve of his bomber jacket and grinned sheepishly.  
“Yeah…I guess I have, huh?”  
  
_Break my shackles to set me free_  
  
They stood there for what seemed like an hour, letting their minds wander from the past to the present to what would be the future.  
  
“C’mon, idiot,” Arthur said fondly. “Let’s go.”  
  
_I'll run, run to you_  
  
“...Can we go get burgers?”  
  
“Not a chance.”


End file.
